


Something Poetic

by DreamingTheMelody



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon Compliant, Gen, I only vaguely know what I'm doing here, M/M, for the most part anyway
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-11-08
Packaged: 2019-01-21 22:30:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12467368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamingTheMelody/pseuds/DreamingTheMelody
Summary: The symbols are vivid and black against his skin, and somehow, Itachi had expected a bit more than this.He feels no change from one day to the next, but when he looks at his reflection and sees his little brother's name imprinted an inch above his eyes, it feels as if the words have been carved into his soul as well.(ficlets set in an itasasu soulmate AU)





	1. It's Fine

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing--except for the things I do. 
> 
> A/N: These are non-linear... ficlets?--Too long to be drabbles, too short for me to consider them chapters--written in an AU in which Itachi and Sasuke are soulmates. As of writing this, I have three of the... 7? 10? of them written out, so hopefully this project will essentially write itself while I'm posting. 
> 
> I plan on writing genre/warnings/relevant info for each ficlet in its notes, but didn't plan on including time period unless I'm asked to; I think it makes it more interesting that way. I'll try and include enough context to make it easy to figure out. These will probably range from gen to some sort of mature however, if not more than that, so be forewarned. 
> 
> Obligatory forewarning: I haven't read the manga and have only seen several episodes of the anime, but I will try and google relevant info. Hopefully it isn't too obvious that I'm basically flying without canon. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy, and please comment, if you feel so inclined!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: K  
> Word count: 700  
> Pairing: itasasu? I don't think this is very "pairing"-written but  
> Genre: introspective, gen  
> Warnings: None

The symbols are vivid and black against his skin, and somehow, Itachi had expected a bit more than this. 

It isn’t just his skin that is being marked, after all. 

He feels no change from one day to the next, but when he looks at his reflection and sees his little brother's name imprinted an inch above his eyes, it feels as if the words have been carved into his soul as well. 

He imagines there should have been something more, something more to signify his entire world being turned on his head with the realization that his soulmate is his brother—his otouto. Yet there is nothing more than ink where there was none, followed by the slight maneuvering of his hitai-ate to hide even that. 

It's fine, he thinks. No one has to know, least of all him. It's fine.

His life continues on as normal—training, missioning, sleeping, and a variation of the same thing—and yet, things have changed irrevocably. The occasions in which he is able to spend time with Sasuke become precious few on account of the new, stringent schedule ANBU requires of him, and Itachi is unsure whether or not he’s grateful for it. 

He loves spending time with Sasuke, always has, always will. The fact that Itachi’s soul calls to his has only reaffirmed and made these feelings for Sasuke stronger—the love, the fierce protectiveness, the deep-seated affection. 

But there’s a dichotomy there, too; a wariness that comes from a secret that needs to be kept hidden from someone who, up until very recently, Itachi only ever felt absolutely carefree with. 

Now, being around Sasuke makes Itachi almost painfully, unnervingly aware of himself in a way he never used to be. The press of his forehead protector is a constant, murmuring brand on his skin that he can’t ignore; the feel of his brother’s arms around his middle is like a ring of fire surrounding him; and with every adjustment he makes to Sasuke’s throwing stance, he feels a bone-deep something that makes his shoulders tense and his hands itch. 

There’s a lack of understanding, too—Itachi knows a lot about soulmates and what they mean, but he can’t really apply his teachings to this scenario. There’s a disconnect between what he knows and the situation he finds himself in, because never did he imagine that his soulmate would be his brother. 

It makes perfect sense, in hindsight; he can’t remember ever caring for anyone, loving anyone, needing to protect anyone as much as he has for Sasuke. Yet though soulmate bonds don’t necessarily equate to romantic ones, it feels as if they should, and Itachi is confused as to how that translates here. 

It’s fine, he tells himself. It’s fine. 

“Nii-san,” Sasuke calls, skidding over tatami mats as he runs towards his brother. “Where are you going? I thought you were going to help me train today.” He stops in front of Itachi and tilts his head to look up at him, brow furrowed in confusion and lips downturned. 

“I can’t tonight, Sasuke,” Itachi replies, hoisting his pack up higher on his shoulder. “I have a mission.” 

“But you promised,” Sasuke whines, lower lip jutting out in a pout and black eyes glistening. “You said you would!” 

“I know,” Itachi says, not meeting Sasuke’s gaze. “I’m sorry.” He feels a mixture of sadness and relief at not being able to stay, and that makes him feel worse in turn. 

“I have to go. Be good for mother,” he adds, before lightly flicking Sasuke on the forehead and turning away. 

He leaves before he can hear Sasuke’s answer. 

He arrives via shunshin at the hokage’s office in no time. His mind, however, is still with his brother and the tatami mats in the parlor, and though he tries his hardest, he can’t seem to clear it. 

You promised, he hears ringing in his ears and pressing on his brain. 

It makes him want to rush back to Sasuke and flee the village in equal measure. 

It’s fine, he tells himself once more, needing to focus on the task at hand and having no time for distractions. It’s fine. 

Until it isn’t.


	2. Blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: K+?   
> Word Count: 500  
> Genre: horror? angsty  
> Warnings: eluding to deaths, vague mindfuckery
> 
> A/N: Happy halloween! this was unplanned, but I think that this chapterlet somewhat fits the theme. Blame my unintentional forgetting of this for the timing, if you like. Please show love, if you feel so inclined! 
> 
> Next one is longer, promise!

The clatter of his forehead protector against the floor is jarring, and for a moment, Itachi doesn't realize what it means. 

And then there is the feel of air against inked skin, and the shot of clarity threatens to break him from this detached facade he is clinging to with bloody fingertips. 

He wasn't meant to know. 

The thought is an almost detached one, another fragment of his mind that has shut down in the wake of this horror somehow making the observation. 

He wonders, vaguely, if he can hide the mark. Even after all that Itachi has done to him, he would have spared his otouto the knowing of this. The knowledge of their soulbond makes this worse somehow; he knows that much. 

But Sasuke has seen, and Itachi knows that he can't do anything now. 

"Did you really think that you were important enough?" Itachi asks, his tone acidic—because if he is going to do this, he is going to do it right. He can't afford for his voice to crack, not now, not when the breaking of it would lead to the shattering of the mask he hides behind. His brother cannot have any doubts after this. 

He needs this control born from dissociation and bladed words alike, and this is the only way he can have it. His brother—his soulmate—his everything—means nothing, nothing, nothing. 

It's fine. He's fine. 

If he thinks it enough times, he might be able to convince himself. 

"You are weak and inconsequential. You never knew because I did not wish to acknowledge being marked by someone as foolish as you." Itachi's face twitches minutely before he is able to bring his expression under control again, and the detached part of himself wonders what Sasuke will make of that, even as he adds disdainfully—

"You are no soulmate of mine." 

After everything, it is this that hits his otouto the hardest; Itachi can see it in the way his body collapses in on itself, the way he seems to fall into pieces that are only held together by the shell of his skin. The words are untrue—far from it—but he cannot, will not take them back. 

The words are untrue, but Itachi needs Sasuke to treat these like a dogma. 

The detached part of him that clinically evaluates the situation wonders, had it not been for the murder of the clan, if this ruthless decimation of his brother would have been enough on its own for him to activate his sharingan. He looks devastated enough for this to be the case, Itachi notes, and it hurts—is nothing—feels like agony in his soul—is exactly what he wants. 

He leaves his little brother knocked out in the middle of the blood-covered district, with tear tracks on both their cheeks. 

Itachi can only hope his death comes soon, after all of this. 

There must be something poetic, he thinks, in dying at the hands of his soulmate.


	3. Water

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rating: K  
> Word count: 800  
> Pairing: mentioned Itasasu; one-sided Shiita (sort of?)  
> Genre: gen; friendship  
> Warnings: None
> 
> A/N: Lol updating this weekly was supposed to help me stay ahead of schedule, but I would have needed to actually get some writing done for this for that to happen. I have been both writing for other projects of mine, and also swamped with midterms, so that plan failed spectacularly, I apologize. This is my last chapterlet for this, so if the next one takes a while to get posted, you know why. This one is the longest one yet though, so there's that. 
> 
> Also, the non-linear aspect of this AU will now come more into play; I only meant for the first two chapterlets to come in chronological order. 
> 
> Please leave love, if you feel so inclined! I am not exaggerating when I say that the comments I have gotten on this have both reminded me that this exists, and have also motivated me to update when I was only vaguely considering it before.

"You know, don't you? You have for a while now." 

Shisui's voice comes as a bit of a surprise; it breaks the quiet reverie that Itachi has sunken into as they sit beside the naka river. 

He glances over, his gaze lightly tracing Shisui's flak uniform jacket, over their shared Uchiha features, and down to his right hand. He can't see it right now, but Itachi knows his name marks the skin around that wrist; he has seen it many times before. 

"Yes," He replies, eyes drifting back to the river in front of them. He lazily moves his feet in a slow back and forth, creating gentle ripples in the water as he watches. "I have." 

"And it's not me," Shisui half-asks, but it's not really a question. He knows; they both do. 

"No," Itachi replies. He slows the moving of his feet and feels the current of the river pressing against his legs as he sits. An orange fish zips through the clear water as he watches. "It's not." 

Shisui gives an explosive sigh from beside him—a loud short gust of air that feels like a physical presence on the riverbed. Out of the corner of his eye, Itachi can see his cousin turn to look at him more directly, though he does not do the same. "That's fine," Shisui says. "I want you to know that." 

"I know," Itachi replies—almost immediately and without conscious thought. He shakes his head, takes a moment to consciously breathe, then deliberately relaxes his posture and tries again. "I know, Shisui. I know you. I know how this works." 

Itachi turns his gaze from the clear blue of the Naka river and watches his cousin. Shisui nods slowly and gives him a gentle smile, but Itachi doesn't think that it reaches his eyes. "Good, good," He says. 

Itachi doesn't have the heart to call him out on it, and for all he knows, Shisui is telling the truth anyway. 

"Who's the lucky winner?" 

Itachi feels his shoulders tense up at the question, still unsure, still nervous at the reality of his situation. No one, he wants to say—stupidly, illogically. None of your business, he thinks after that, but that answer is as untrue as the first. He could offer up the name of someone else in their clan—Izumi, maybe. But Shisui deserves better than that from him—as a best friend, as a soulmate, even if not directly his soulmate. 

Wordless, Itachi turns towards his cousin and removes his hitai-ate. He slides the cool metal through his fingers as he watches Shisui. His cousin’s dark eyes are an almost tangible weight on his forehead—quick but undeniable—and Itachi feels a surprising amount of nervousness from it. Though he tries to act unbothered, there is a part of him that is wary of what Shisui might say or think. 

Shisui gives a low, drawn-out whistle, and the corner of his mouth twitches up slightly. "You don't do things halfway," he remarks. 

Itachi has no response to that but to dawn his forehead protector again. 

Shisui reaches out and grabs Itachi’s hand as he lowers it back down to his lap. "Hey, listen to me," he says, using his other hand to gently grab Itachi's chin and keep their gazes locked. His eyes are a little sad still, but filled with a gentle knowing that Itachi takes comfort in. "It'll be fine. This is entirely what you want it to be—for him and you, and you and me. It doesn't have to be anything you don't want; it doesn't have to be uncomfortable at all. Just look at us." 

"I know," Itachi says again, but it comes out more hesitant this time, even if it is more genuine. 

And he does know, really. He's known that he was Shisui's soulmate for a while now, and their relationship has only ever been what he wanted it to be. The presence—or lack thereof—of Itachi’s mark will not change that. 

"You need to stop listening to the girls in your academy classes," His cousin jokes, and with that, the seriousness is gone. "You'd think with you being graduated for years now, you wouldn't have time to seek them out. Clearly I'm wrong." 

Itachi huffs out a laugh and elbows Shisui in the side, amused despite himself. "You're childish," he says, but Shisui's encouragement does make him feel somewhat better. 

He’s not entirely sure what will come from his soulbond—he doesn’t even know if it’s reciprocated, even—never mind the emotional complications that come from trying to understand how he feels about his brother. 

But he thinks that if it turns out even half as good as the one Shisui has with him, it won’t be bad at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry not sorry for the backstory/worldbuilding feel of this one. The next one--though I literally have no clue what it will be yet--will be more itasasu-centric, promised! You are also welcome to leave me ideas of things that would make sense to be written for this AU. No promises that I'll write them, but I always welcome input!


End file.
